Editing Pierre Boulez (section)

===Last works===
In later works Boulez relinquished electronics, although Griffiths suggests that in ''[[Incises|sur Incises]]'' (1996–1998){{refn|The title refers to the fact that the piece elaborates "on" the piano piece ''Incises''.|group=n}} the choice of like but distinct instruments, spread across the platform, enabled Boulez to create effects of harmonic, timbral and spatial echo for which he previously used electronic means. The piece is scored for three pianos, three harps and three percussionists (including steel drums) and grew out of ''Incises'' (1993–2001), a short piece written for a piano competition.<ref>Griffiths (2005), 105.</ref> In an interview in 2013 he described it as his most important work—"because it is the freest".<ref>Boulez (2017), 249.</ref>

''Notation VII'' (1999), marked "hieratic" in the score, is the longest of the orchestral ''Notations''. According to Griffiths: "what was abrupt in 1945 is now languorous; what was crude is now done with a lifetime's experience and expertise; what was simple is fantastically embellished, even submerged."<ref>Griffiths (2005), 102.</ref>

''Dérive 2'' started out in 1988 as a five-minute piece, dedicated to [[Elliott Carter]] on his 80th birthday; by 2006 it was a 45-minute work for eleven instruments and Boulez's last major composition. According to [[Claude Samuel]], Boulez wanted to explore rhythmic shifts, tempo changes and superimpositions of different speeds, inspired in part by his contact with the music of [[György Ligeti]]. Boulez described it as "a sort of narrative mosaic".<ref name=SamuelBooklet>Samuel (2013).</ref>